The joy of nightriding

I've seriously got the cycling bug over the last month or so... so much so that I was thinking of buying a turbo trainer, one of these contraptions that you can slot your bike into and turn it into a machine that you can cycle away on in the house. After doing a bit of research online I discovered that a lot of folk find them really boring and that the novelty wears off after a couple of weeks... I know that I find the cycle machines in the gym incredibly boring so I thought again.

All the money I was going to spend on the trainer I decided to invest in lights for the bike instead... T'was very strange heading out of Peebles with my 15000 candlepowered light (with dip and full beam!) and a bright old Fenix Torch taped to my bike helmet into the pitch darkness. 

It took a couple of minutes for my eyes to adjust, but once they did it was like a new world opening up... 5 or 6 minutes along the Glasgow road (with a 2 or 3, no doubt bemused drivers wondering what the hell was coming towards them), then racing down the hill towards Manor Bridge and the promise of 8 glorious miles of traffic free roads. Legs pumping, the chill of the night air amplifying the sound of my breathing. 

Then you start to hear the rustling in the hedgerows and see the animals darting across the road in front of you, the dim orange dot in the distance slowly becomes brighter as it reveals itself to be the old phonebox at Manor, then left to Cademuir, slowing down to cross the cattle grid, shift up the gears and take the last big hill of the ride, then round the side of the family's Banana Hill where many a picnic has been eaten over the years,  then the biggest treat of all.... The Peebles hills silhouetted against a full moon... completely breathtaking... just as beautiful as that of the daylight vista.... still the familiar sound of my breathing and the swishing noise of the tyres against the tarmac... up one last hill and then the real fun begins... Downhill all the way home with the wind behind... Into the lowest gear then freewheel to the foot of the hill, braking for the 2nd bloody cattle grid  you know is ahead of you... then those fantastic final 2 miles home, head down, full speed ahead, chest aching looking forward to a hot shower and a piping cup of coffee...

You can keep your bedroom cycling machine... I prefer to seize the night!